1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to information processing and, more particularly, to a technique for controlling installation of a printer driver.
2. Description of the Related Art
To use a peripheral device such as a printer via an information processing apparatus, software such as a device driver that supports the peripheral device generally needs to be installed into a processing system (e.g., an operating system (OS)) that operates on the information processing apparatus. When the printer is used, printing can be performed on a sheet or sheets by starting a printer driver from an application, performing settings for the printing, and transferring data acquired from the application to the printer.
As a technique for installing, when a peripheral device such as a printer is connected to the information processing apparatus, a device driver for using the connected peripheral device into the computer, Plug and Play (PnP) has been well known. By using the PnP technique, a user can be released from complicated installation work and setting work of the driver for using the peripheral device, resulting in significantly improved convenience.
In PnP executed for a printer by Windows (registered trademark) that is an OS of Microsoft Corporation in the United states, identification information is acquired from a printer via an interface of a universal serial bus (USB) or a web service on devices (WSD). An OS searches for an optimum device driver based on the acquired identification information, installs the device driver, and sets a connection destination at which the printer has been detected as an output destination. In the PnP, the OS acquires model identification information (MDL) of the printer from the printer, searches for a printer driver corresponding to the MDL, and installs the printer driver. In this case, a specific driver serving as a printer driver uniquely corresponding to the printer is searched for. If the printer driver corresponding to the MDL has not been found, the OS acquires compatible identification information (CID) of the printer, searches for a printer driver corresponding to the CID, and installs the printer driver. If the CID has been used, a generic driver serving as a printer driver that can be shared among a plurality of printer models has been introduced. A generic driver that is shared among printers in a printer class is also referred to as a class driver.
A case where a generic driver has already been installed when a printer is newly detected on a network is assumed. In this case, using the already installed generic driver without performing the processing for newly searching for and installing a printer driver can provide an environment for the new printer to perform printing easily and quickly. Further, the generic driver can provide similar setting screens and usage to the printers that the generic driver supports regardless of models.
As a conventional technique, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-160616 discusses a technique for selecting, if a class driver has already been installed when a specific driver corresponding to model identification information is to be installed, whether to delete the existing class driver or to cause the class driver and the specific driver to coexist.
However, the printing system discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-160616 is implemented by a technique using a dedicated installer, and is not compatible with an installation method using PnP. If a printer driver to be updated exists, automatic updating of the printer, which is an advantage of PnP, cannot be performed.
To solve the above-mentioned issue, when installation of a device driver is started, installation of a specific driver and a generic driver needs to be flexibly controlled by assuming PnP.
Installation using PnP needs to be controlled by selecting the type of device driver to be used according to the system setting specified by a user or a group policy.